FingerReader

Work in progress – A wearable interface for reading printed text.

“The FingerReader is a wearable device that assists in reading printed text. It is a tool both for visually impaired people that require help with accessing printed text, as well as an aid for language translation.

Wearers scan a text line with their finger and receive an audio feedback of the words and a haptic feedback of the layout: start and end of line, new line, and other cues.

The FingerReader algorithm knows to detect and give feedback when the user veers away from the baseline of the text, and helps them maintain a straight scanning motion within the line.” – From the Mit Fluid Interfaces Lab website.

Commissioned to design the FingerReader device by Roy Shilkrot from the MIT’s Media Lab Fluid Interfaces lab, I have began initial design and research for ring form, material choices, PCB layout, and manufacturing options.

It is an interesting challenge to design a product intended largely for visually impaired people, putting even more emphasis than usual on product feel, texture, and other non-visual design cues.

This project is based on the research of: Roy Shilkrot, Jochen Huber, Connie Liu, Suranga Nanayakkara, and Pattie Maes.